Missing
by Dlbn
Summary: When Yamato doesn't come home one night, Koya assumes the worst. When the police are of no help, she is forced to turn to the people she's supposed to hate in order to find the one she loves.
1. Life After Nagisa Sensei

Dlbn: Hey there everyone! Time for another story from me, Dlbn.

Nbld: I think they can see that, dumbass.

Dlbn: Be quiet grouchy. This little fic here is going to be a multichapter fic…with the same plot spanning over all the chapters ('Home Alone' style face™)

Nbld: That's the first one we've had in this category. Up until now, it's been one-shots, a song-fic, and a chapter fic full of one-shots.

Dlbn: On another note, it's the first I'm writing about Yamato and Koya. Oooh, unfamiliar territory!

Nbld: Well, let's stop bothering people and get to the plot!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yamato, Koya, any other characters of Loveless, or Loveless. I own the plot to this story, that's it. I make NO money off of writing for Loveless.

Disclaimer 2: The song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter are from "Missing" by Evanescence. This song provided the inspiration for this fic. (As well as for another unrelated one-shot that I might write alongside this one) I do not own this song, and I make NO money off of it. The song belongs to Amy Lee and the original Evanescence band. (I think it's the original one. It's from 2004…)

_Please, please forgive me_

_But I won't be home again_

_Maybe one day, you'll wake up_

_And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one  
"Isn't something missing?"_

000

Koya Sakagami tapped her pencil on her desk as her ninth period math teacher droned on about something she didn't really care about. She looked up at the clock. Ten minutes left. She could manage this. In just ten minutes, she would be out the door and on her way to the flat she shared with her girlfriend, Yamato. The two of them had once made up a unit known as Zero. Koya was the fighter who could manipulate words as spells, and Yamato was the sacrifice that took the damage delivered by the other unit they'd fight. That was only up until about two months ago. Yamato's ability to feel pain had come back, for reasons they had yet to discover, and her name-a zero with a line through it-had faded. Koya had stopped the battle between themselves and a young boy named Ritsuka, and his fighter; Soubi. As a result, she and Yamato were no longer a Zero pair and couldn't fight ever again. That didn't stop Koya from using a spell to heat up the room, or close a window Yamato left open on occasion.

"Sakagami-chan!" The teacher called.

Koya stood up. "Hai, sensei?" She wondered.

"Perhaps you could stop daydreaming enough to solve the problem on the board?"

Koya looked at the board for a minute. "Six, sensei?"

"No." He answered. "You'd know if you weren't daydreaming."

People laughed. The girl next to Koya, who she used to live down the road from, offered her a look of sympathy.

"…8, sensei?" Koya tried to correct herself.

"No." He shook his head. "Would you like one more time? Three strikes and you're out."

"You're _outta here_!" One of the boys called, waving his arm over his head.

People laughed at him.

"Five." The girl next to Koya mouthed, hiding her moving pink-painted lips behind her hand.

"Five?"

"Very good." Sensei said. "But it would have been better if Shima-chan didn't help you."

The girl flushed. "Sorry, sensei." She bowed her head.

"You can sit, Koya."

Koya did as told, flushing madly. She could take being in a spell battle, but the one thing she hated was talking in front of people. It wasn't something she was good at. She could talk in front of Nagisa-sensei, the head of the Zero project, back in the day. But that was all behind her and Yamato now. Koya had destroyed her cell phone and the two of them decided to start their lives over. Neither had wanted to switch schools, since they were juniors already, so that was the same. They'd moved to a new apartment complex together and hadn't had any contact with Nagisa-sensei or other fighting units, since.

The school bell rang. "Alright, that's it for today." Sensei told the class. "Sayonara, class."

The students stood as a unit. "Sayonara, Sensei." They spoke, bowing.

Once Sensei left the room, the students scrambled to get ready to go. It was, after all, a Friday.

"That was embarrassing!" The girl next to Koya said. "I thought he was going to give you _detention_ or something!"

"Teachers never give me detention." Koya informed softly, putting her notebook away into her black backpack.

"Lucky." Another girl commented. She also lived near Koya's old house before the move.

"I feel like going to a café today." The girl with the painted lips said.

"Good idea, Tsubaki!" The other girl said, running a hand through her long, tangled red locks.

"You in, Sakagami?" Tsubaki wondered.

"I'm busy." Koya responded. "Sorry."

"You're _always_ busy." The other girl accused.

"Leave her alone, Hikari." Tsubaki ordered. "Are you sure you can't come with?"

Koya paused. "I guess I could…for a little bit…"

It would take Yamato time to get home, anyway, and she'd probably go somewhere with her classmates.

"Alright, Sakagami finally gets out into the real world with people her own age!" Hikari clapped her hands together. "So let's get going. There's a nice place down the road."

"I need to make a call first."

"We'll be in the hall." Tsubaki and Hikari left together, chatting about the new place.

Koya sighed and pulled out her new cell phone. She dialed a number she had memorized.

"Hello, Koya!" Yamato's cheery voice answered the phone. "Why are you calling me?"

"I'm going to a café with some classmates." Koya said. "If you don't mind."

They weren't a unit anymore, but Yamato would always be her sacrifice. And fighters did what sacrifices commanded.

"I don't mind." Yamato answered. "I was actually going to let you know I was going to go to a manga café with classmates. I promised them I'd go a while ago, but Nagisa-sensei interrupted us."

Koya nodded. She remembered. They'd run into one another with their respective classmates by the bus stop that all high schoolers used. Nagisa-sensei had conference called the two of them to tell them to go after Agatsuma Soubi.

"Okay." Koya said. "I'll see you at home."

"I'm sure you will." Yamato giggled. The sound was heavenly to Koya's ears. "I love you~" She sang.

"You too." Koya hung up before Yamato could complain that she hadn't said 'I love' as well.

Koya put her phone back in the pocket of her navy school uniform skirt and picked up her backpack. If she kept Hikari and Tsubaki waiting too long, they'd get annoyed and never let her hear the end of it.


	2. Missing

Dlbn: Hey there everyone, and welcome to another chapter of "Missing"!

Nbld: We were going to wait until we got at least one review for this story to update again, but we couldn't wait.

Dlbn: I love this story so much for some reason, and I want to continue it. so, reviews or not, I'm going for it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Sakagami Koya or Nakano Yamato. They are part of Loveless, which I also do not own. I own copies of the manga, two sets of the anime (one is the original 3 disc box set with Japanese audio only, and the other is the 3 disc box set with Japanese audio AND English audio), but that does NOT mean that I own Loveless itself. Loveless belongs to the fabulous Yun Kouga. Volume 9 goes on sale from Viz Media in September of this year! Support the return of Loveless and buy the new one! :D I make NO money off of writing in this category!

Disclaimer 2: I do NOT own the lyrics. They are from "Missing" by Evanescence. I make NO money off of using the lyrics.

_ You won't cry for my absence, I know -  
You forgot me long ago.  
Am I that unimportant...?~_

000

Yamato snapped her newly acquired cell phone and ran a hand over her earless head. She and Koya were polar opposites. It was strange that they went so well together. Yamato was a blonde, while Koya had black hair. Yamato flaunted the fact that she had lost her ears, but Koya insisted on wearing fake ears. As long as they came off at home, Yamato didn't mind. She didn't understand why Koya didn't want to admit her status, but it was probably because it would attract attention from her classmates. Unlike Yamato, Koya hated attention that she hadn't asked for. Yet another reason they were so dissimilar. Not to mention that Yamato was a sacrifice and Koya was a fighter; formerly.

"Are we going, Yamato?" Yua, a girl with dark brown hair and her ears, asked.

"Yeah, we're going." Yamato nodded, picking up her pink messenger bag.

It didn't go with the red and black color scheme of the school uniforms, but Yamato felt like it stuck out. And, Yua had insisted, the bag was totally 'her'. But what _was_ a Yamato? Yamato had been wondering who she really was ever since the loss of her name. It was like her whole identity revolved around being 'Zero'. Truly pathetic.

"You know, Yua, its strange." Another girl said.

Her reddish-brown hair reminded Yamato of the male Zeroes she and Koya had discovered existed. What was that one's name? Something with an "N". Oh, that was going to bother the hell out of her now.

"What's strange?" Yua wondered.

"Your name means 'ties of love', but you've yet to find a man."

"Maybe she's not into men." Yamato stated swiftly.

She was clever when she wanted to be. Yua's mouth fell open at the idea. "I've had crushes on men!" She insisted. "I just never got with any of them. The 'I already have a girlfriend' syndrome really exists."

"Aw, poor Yua!" Yamato put an arm around her shoulders. "A nice trip to the manga café will make everything better."

"I hope so." Yua smiled. "You're so mean, Mayu."

Mayu stuck out her tongue. "If you ask me, out of the three of us, it's Yamato that's not interested in men."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong on that." Yamato tapped her chin with her left index finger.

Yua and Mayu giggled. "Sure, Yamato." Yua said. "Whatever you say."

Yamato frowned, more annoyed with their laughter then the fact that they didn't believe her. The three of them exited the classroom. Yamato stretched, her red uniform over-shirt rising up slightly to reveal the white one underneath.

"I'm so ready for the weekend." Yamato said, unbuttoning her top.

"Me too." Mayu agreed. "Anyone have plans?"

"I'm going preach tree picking with my parents." Yua beamed. "The peaches are ripe this time of year."

"I just plan on spending a nice, relaxing weekend at home." Yamato said, smiling as she thought of Koya.

"I'm being dragged to a family reunion." Mayu sighed. "It wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact that everyone hates everyone."

"Then why have a reunion?" Yamato wondered.

She didn't have any family to speak of, beyond Koya; if one considered their live-in best friend, partner, fighter, and lover as their 'family'. Nagisa-sensei could be considered family, as well, but both Yamato and Koya had cut any ties with her. So she wasn't much to speak of.

"Just to torture the teenagers who realize that everyone hates each other." Mayu said. "I don't think the adults have realized. That, or they're just oblivious."

"Most adults are oblivious." Yamato nodded in agreement.

"I can agree on that." Yua said. "At least my parents aren't oblivious."

"I'd rather have oblivious then overbearing." Yamato giggled.

Yua's parents were very protective of their only child; the heir to the family business. They were publicists or something like that. Yamato forgot and, quite frankly, didn't care to know. She wasn't allowed to do much outside the home; studying and being groomed to take over the job when it came time. Yamato pitied her. Yua wanted to get a job so she could save up enough money to leave, but her parents had forbidden a job. They had what they called 'people' around the city making sure she was just going to school and home. She was able to go out with friends after school, but she had a very strict 5 pm curfew. Yamato thought that was a bit extreme, but she couldn't tell Yua-or her parents-that.

"I agree." Yua sighed. "I'm just glad my parents are going to be out late tonight."

"So you can stay out past five?" Mayu asked happily.

"I have to be home at 5. My tutor's coming at 5:15 to make sure I'm not late."

"Tutoring for _what_?" Yamato asked. "Your grades are fine, and there's no finals or midterms up yet."

"I have to take an entrance exam next weekend. Ivy League stuff. That's what my parents want me to do." Yua informed. "They won't accept anything less then 1500."

"Wow." Yamato whistled. "Good luck, Yua."

"What if you get less then that?" Mayu wondered.

"Then they'll start their whole 'she has no future' stuff until I _do_ get 1500."

Yamato shook her head. "I think your parents need to be checked out by a professional."

"I couldn't agree more." Yua giggled. "Come on, let's get to the café before there's nowhere good to sit and check out guys."

Yamato rolled her eyes. She didn't want to do that. But if it made her so-called 'friends' happy, then so be it.

000

Koya opened the door to the apartment she shared with Yamato around 5:30 that night. The café hadn't really been a big deal. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the greatest thing Koya ever saw. She felt rather apathetic about the whole thing. Tsubaki and Hikari had enjoyed it, though, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

"Yamato?" Koya called out. "Are you home?"

The lights were all off but, knowing Yamato, she was hiding and ready to spring. Receiving no answer, Koya made her away around the two-bedroom flat, checking every room and closet she could find. With Yamato nowhere to be found, Koya went into the kitchen to rifle through the cabinets.

"What to eat…" She spoke aloud, scratching the side of her head.

One of her false cat ears moved as she scratched near it, becoming detached from her hair. Koya sighed and removed them both, setting the false appendages on the kitchen counter. They were a pain sometimes, but she didn't want to invite unwanted questioning from her classmates by showing up without her ears. Maybe once she was out of high school, she would.

"Nothing." Koya muttered. "Nothing again." She sighed. "Maybe I should order out…"

She looked through takeout menus. Nothing really caught her eye, but she was hungry. She picked one at random. It was a ramen place up the road. They served steak and other things as well, but Koya preferred ramen from them. They never cooked meat the way she wanted. She dialed the place's number on the phone and placed an order for delivery.

The delivery boy showed up about twenty minutes later. Koya paid him in cash before sitting on the couch and flipping on the TV. Time for a little TV with dinner. She only hoped Yamato got back soon. She'd ordered for them both, and her food was getting cold.

000

Koya awoke hours later with a start. She'd had a nightmare of Nagisa-sensei replacing Yamato with some other sacrifice; a third generation Zero sacrifice that her sleeping mind hadn't bothered to name. Nagisa-sensei had always threatened to replace Yamato with another Zero sacrifice if she ever became a problem and hindered Koya. Zeroes were 'interchangeable', apparently. It seemed that Nagisa-sensei hadn't considered that after years of fighting together, Zero pairs would become attached to one another and not want to be swapped out. Would resist the swap, even.

The lights were all off in the apartment, save for the blaring TV.

"Yamato?" Koya called out.

No answer. Koya looked at the clock on the TV. The lit up numbers said that it was 9:30 at night. Yamato didn't normally stay out this late. Did she call and leave a message? Koya checked her cell phone, but she had no messages or missed calls. Maybe Yamato was asleep. Koya stood and stretched. She went to the bedroom she shared with her girlfriend and opened the door slowly.

"Yamato?" She asked. "Are you in here?"

It was a stupid question, as the lights were all off, but she might have just been hiding again.

"Not funny, Yamato." Koya checked under the bed and in both closets. No Yamato. "Come out, Yamato, please! You're freaking me out!"

Koya did another run through of the apartment before stopping in the living room. The cartons containing Yamato's ordered-in dinner weren't opened. Yamato couldn't resist ramen. This wasn't good.

Koya quickly dialed Yamato's cell phone number, relieved when she heard Yamato answer with a 'hello'.

"Yamato?" Koya asked. "Where are you? It's late! I'm wor-"

"Just kidding!" Yamato's giddy voice said. "I'm not available at the moment. Leave your name and number, or just call me back later. Bye-bye!"

"Damn it, Yamato!" Koya yelled after the beep. "Where are you? I'm worried. Call me." She hung up.

Koya started pacing back and forth. Yamato always had her cell phone on, just in case there was an emergency. But it was off. It was off and Yamato wasn't home like she normally was. Koya stopped her pacing and grabbed Yamato's phone book off the table. There were only a few contacts in there; Nagisa-sensei, some girl named Mayu, some girl named Yua, and Koya herself. Calling herself wouldn't help her, and Nagisa-sensei was a no-go either. That left the other two girls. Koya sighed and dialed Mayu's number first, since it was listed first.

"Hello?" A girl asked. "Who is this?"

"Um…this is Koya Sakagami…" Koya said, flushing. "Are you Mayu?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I'm looking for Yamato. She's my roommate." Koya answered. "She hasn't come home yet, and her cell phone appears to be off…"

"She's not home yet?" Mayu interrupted, sounding surprised. "We left the café around 4:30 to bring Yua home. We dropped Yua off and went our separate ways. I haven't heard from her since."

"You haven't?"

Koya couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"No, I haven't." Mayu said. "Hold on. Let me three-way call Yua. Maybe she's talked to her."

"Okay."

Koya heard silence on the other end of the phone as Mayu dialed for Yua. Every second, she could hear her heart beating louder and louder. Yamato never just lost contact with her. They were always together, always connected. But since Yamato stopped being a Zero, she and Koya had lost their telepathic connection as well. It would be of no use now.

"Hey, it's Mayu again!" Mayu said on the other end of the phone.

"Hi." Koya muttered.

"And Yua!" Another girl spoke. "I'm sorry, but I haven't heard from Yamato either. Did you try her cell phone?"

"First thing I did." Koya replied.

"That's strange." Yua said.

"That's not like her." Mayu said. "To stay out and not call anyone, I mean. At least, I don't think it is…"

"It's not." Koya said. "She normally calls if she's going to be running late."

"I'm sure she'll turn up." Mayu said. "Give me a call in the morning and let me know, okay?"

"Okay." Koya agreed.

"And Mayu will call me." Yua said. "We'll find her!"

"I hope so."

Koya listened to the other girls say their goodbyes before hanging up. She could only hope Yua was right.


	3. Four Hours Earlier

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Welcome to another chapter of "Missing"!  
Nbld: Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: We only own Koya's friends, Yamato's friends, and the mysterious men. Koya, Yamato, and any other characters, places, themes, or terms related to them all belong to Yun Kouga, as they come from Loveless. I make NO money off of this work of fan fiction.

_ Am I so insignificant...?  
Isn't something missing?  
Isn't someone missing me?~_

000

-Four Hours Earlier-

Yamato waved Mayu off as she left to go back to her house up the road. Yamato, on the other hand, was looking forward to getting home to Koya for dinner. It was a long day.

"Time to get going!" Yamato squealed to herself. "What to surprise Koya with when I get home…" She took a sip from the hot latte in her hand. "Well, I could show her my manga…"

One of the streetlights snapped off, leaving the land under it pitch black in the darkness. Yamato stared. "Why would they turn the street lights off…?" She looked around. "Oh, a blown fuse."

Ignoring the fact that she was talking to herself like a crazy person, Yamato continued on her way, noticing that streetlights snapped off one by one.

"Damn it." She muttered. "Lights go down earlier then I thought." She checked her watch as she stood under a still lit streetlight. "Wish I had a flashlight…"

Walking quickly, Yamato continued on her way, hoping she'd get to the busy intersection a few streets over before all the lights were cut. She heard footsteps trailing around in the darkness behind her. Turning quickly, she spotted no one around.

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not working." She informed whoever it was, sticking out her tongue. She turned back the way she'd intended going and kept moving.

A second set of footsteps joined the sounds being made by the first set of feet. Yamato gulped. There could have been a group of people following her. Her fear wasn't any gang members that could be running around, or homeless teens with nothing better to do. Her fear was a fighting unit who had discovered her, and didn't know that she wasn't a sacrifice anymore.

"I'm telling you, I'm not scared!" Yamato informed. "And I'm not a sacrifice anymore, so you're not going to get a fight!"

Maybe it wasn't smart to yell that out, in case it was just homeless teens, but a normal person might think she was crazy and ignore her. The footsteps sounded closer, making Yamato move quicker. She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. It only had a couple bars left, but it would work. She began dialing Koya's number when she noticed that the footsteps had stopped. She looked around and saw nothing. They must have gotten the hint and left. She smiled triumphantly and turned around to continue. She only took a few steps before bumping into someone. Letting out a choked gasp, she looked up. A slightly older male teen was standing in front of her.

"Sorry." She told him. "I heard footsteps and thought someone was around."

"I was." The man said with a smirk.

"Well…I guess…" She laughed. "Um…I better get going."

He smirked. "I'll walk you."

"I'm fine." She insisted, inching around him.

Fingers clasped around her wrist. She pulled back. "I _said_ I'm fine." She informed. "So let go!" She started to pull away, only to smash into someone behind her. She looked up to see another male smiling down at her. He appeared to be the same age as the other man.

"Do you know him?" Yamato asked. "Make him let go."

The other man put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't think I can do that."

Yamato tried to shake him off, moving her finger to hit the 'call' button to send the call to Koya. The first man put two fingers from his other hand on the center of her forehead. She stopped moving her finger to look at him. His lips curled into a wicked grin.

He spoke, his voice commanding an order; "Sleep."

"What…are…?" Yamato felt fatigue overtaking her.

If she fell asleep, these people would be able to take her. She fought off the fatigue and pulled away. The men let her go. Yamato ran forward, as fast as she could move in her sleepy state. The fatigue was weighing heavily on her mind and she felt herself losing conscious. This had to have been wordspell. Which meant that the two men were fighter and sacrifice. This wasn't good. What the heck could they want with _her_? Yamato felt her eyelids closing and shook it off, moving forward more.

"Sleep." The first man ordered again.

This time, Yamato couldn't fight the fatigue anymore. She fell to the pavement with an 'oomph' noise. Her phone clattered to the ground. Before she was completely asleep, she could see two sets of feet near her.

"Grab her and let's go." The second man said. "Our spells won't last forever."

"You got it."

As Yamato faded out, she was aware of someone lifting her up and carrying her away.

000

When Koya awoke the next morning, after a night full of tossing and turning-caused by nightmares of what could have happened to Yamato-to see her alarm clock reading 10:15 in the morning. She checked her cell, which she hadn't turned off the night before, to see that there was a missed call from Mayu. She hit the callback button and waited until she heard Mayu answer.

"Hey." Mayu said. "Any word from Yamato?"

"You're the only call." Koya said. "I checked her room, though."

"And?"

"She's not here."

"I hope something didn't happen to her." Mayu said, sounding as worried as Koya felt.

"Me too."

"If you don't hear anything by the end of the day, I'd call the police and report her missing."

"I agree." Yua's voice said.

"Sorry. We were in the middle of a call, so I pulled you in as well." Mayu said. "I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not." Koya shook her head, though she knew the others couldn't see. "I'm going to look around town today. If you hear from her or see her…"

"You'll be first we call." Mayu said. "Yua, I'll give you her cell phone number off the caller ID."

"Okay." Yua agreed.

"I'm not going to be around, but if I see her around where I am, I'll let you know."

"Oh yeah, I'm going peach picking." Yua agreed. "If I see her near the orchard, I'll let you know."

"Thank you." Koya said. "I better get ready and go looking. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

Koya hung up. She wished she still had a fighter and sacrifice's telepathic communication lines with Yamato. Or the thin wire that surrounded and connected them both. It would have been so much easier to find her. For now, she had to rely on her own limited detective skills and hope that she didn't need to involve the police.

000

When Yamato woke up, she was aware of two things. One, she was tied to a chair in a building that she didn't recognize. Two, one of the men from earlier was standing there, leaning on the doorframe with his eyes closed. Yamato didn't make a noise as she twisted, trying to loosen the ropes that bound her.

"You're awake." The man by the door spoke, making Yamato look up and meet his cold glare. He had long brown hair and grayish eyes. He was the one who had said 'sleep' and cast his spells the day before. No doubt, he was a fighter. His sacrifice had to be around somewhere.

"Still sleepy, hm, Zero?" He carried on.

Yamato scoffed. "I'm no longer a Zero." She informed. "My fighter and I are a retired unit. I don't even have my name."

The man frowned. "I'm sure you don't." The sarcasm was evident.

The door next to the fighter slid open before Yamato could retaliate. "She's awake?" The sacrifice asked.

"Yeah." The fighter answered his redheaded companion with a nod. "A few minutes ago."

The sacrifice turned to Yamato and smiled. "Since you didn't use wordspell against us, I deduce that you are a sacrifice?" He wondered.

"Formerly." She agreed. "I'm retired. My fighter and me both. My name's gone, too."

The sacrifice frowned, darkness shadowing inside his bright blue eyes. "I'm sure you are." He didn't seem to believe her either.

"You should be able to see that my connection to my fighter is no longer present." Yamato informed the men. "So what do you want?"

"So rude." The fighter informed.

"I am Daichi." The sacrifice spoke. "My fighter, Azayka." Daichi nodded towards his fighter. "We are Impenitent." Azayka informed.

"Pleasure." Yamato rolled her blue eyes. "What do you want?"

"You're a Zero…"

"Formerly…"

"Regardless," Daichi spoke, "of what you say, my point still stands. We are seeking to harness the ability of Zero to not feel pain."

"Good luck." Yamato snorted. "I feel pain, so you can't get it from me. Ask Nagisa-sensei."

"We can't." Azayka answered. "She would never tell us, anyway."

Yamato cocked an eyebrow. "So you kidnapped me to try and figure out how I can't feel pain?" She asked. "When I feel pain? Wow, is your targeting off!" She burst into laughter. "You won't find _anything_ by studying me. I'm not a Zero anymore!"

"Azayka." Daichi said. "Make her squeal."

Azayka nodded. "Yes sir." He said. "Shock of lightening. Cause striking damage to the enemy in my sights."

Yamato felt a white-hot light course through her body and cried out; screaming loud enough to awaken the dead. Once the shock wore off, she winced and looked at them.

"Please…" She said. "I can really feel pain. Your efforts are…for nothing…"

"Not enough Azayka. Do not disappoint me."

"Hai." Azayka nodded. "Electrical current, magnify power. Strike opponent at her weakest point." He held his hand out towards her, fingers splayed. Damage is 10,000!"

"No!" Yamato cried.

Power that strong could kill her. Blue sparks built at the tips of his fingers. They vanished into the darkness. Thinking he had missed, Yamato opened her mouth to throw a retort at him. However, a burning, stinging pain wracked over her body, coursing through her veins. She cried out again, screaming louder this time-if possible. These people were sadists! The pain died down and she felt her consciousness giving way.

"Ugh…" Yamato grunted. "Stop…please, stop…"

"One more blow would kill her." Azayka said. "What should I do?"

"Leave her here." Daichi ordered. "We'll be back…and ready to uncover the hidden secrets of the Zero."

Yamato watched the two leave before her mind shut down and she fell into unconsciousness once again.


	4. The Search Begins

Dlbn: Hey everyone, I'm BACK!

Nbld: Sorry about the lack of updates here. We've been uninspired.

Dlbn: But then we noticed that there was more we had _already_ written, so we decided to post it.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yamato, Koya, or any other related character, theme, place, or terminology associated with Loveless. I DO however, own Daichi, and Azayka. They are MINE. ^^ I make NO money off of writing in this category. It's just for fun.

Disclaimer 2: I do not own the song 'Missing'. It belongs to Evanescence. I make NO money off of referencing the song in this fanfic.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to the return of my boyfriend, who was in NYC for the past two weeks :)

_Even though I'm the sacrifice,  
You won't try for me, not now.  
Though I'd die to know you love me,  
I'm all alone.  
Isn't someone missing me?~_

000

Koya sighed as she walked down the road where Yamato was last seen. She'd looked all over Tokyo, for what seemed like a thousand times, but she'd found no sign of Yamato. It didn't make sense. Yamato would never go anywhere without letting Koya know where. It felt strange to not be connected to the blonde, to not automatically know where she was and if she was injured. Could she have been hurt and taken to a hospital? Maybe she was injured and unconscious, so they couldn't get a contact from her? They could have always looked through her cell phone, but Yamato didn't keep Koya's number in her cell; she had it memorized. Koya made a mental note to tell Yamato to input her number into her cell. Just in case anything like this happened again. If she was found, that is.

"No." Koya scolded herself, stamping her left foot on the ground. "I _will_ find her. I don't care how long it takes. I'll find her." She continued walking down the road, hoping no one heard her yelling at herself a moment ago. It looked strange to see a teenager walking around alone in the middle of the day on a Saturday, talking to herself.

Koya spotted something shining on the sidewalk a few feet away. She jogged to the shiny object and leaned down to pick it up. It was a cell phone. She'd recognize it anywhere. It was Yamato's. Koya had been with her when the blonde picked out a simple phone and decals to go with it. Of course decals, to Yamato, meant stickers from the craft supply store in town. There was a small silver 'zero' on the bottom on the front of the cell phone. The back was adorned with a large pink chrysanthemum. There was no mistaking it as someone else's phone. Well, this explained why Yamato didn't pick up when Koya had called her. Now Koya was really worried that she'd been injured. The nearest hospital was about four miles away. Thankfully, there was a city bus stop at the end of the road. She'd just wait and hope that Yamato was there.

000

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any records of a blonde 'Jane-Doe' being brought in." The nurse at the front desk of the hospital told Koya half an hour later.

"Have any blonde patients been admitted?" Koya asked. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. I haven't heard from her in a while and was concerned…"

"I would call the police if I were you, honey." The nurse smiled sweetly. "We've had a few admitted in the past couple days, but only one female. What's your friend's name?"

"Yamato. Nakano Yamato."

The nurse frowned. "I'm sorry, but we don't have anyone registered under that name here."

"What about 'Zero'?"

The nurse looked at her oddly.

"It's a nickname from high school." Koya shrugged. "I don't get it either."

The nurse typed into the computer again. "No, I'm sorry." She said. "Would you like to leave a callback number? And I'll call you if your friend shows up?"

"Um…no…she's probably fine. Just playing games again." Koya laughed nervously. "Arigato."

She left the hospital feeling five times worse then she had when she showed up in the first place. There were more hospitals in the area, but she didn't think Yamato would be there either. So why was her cell left on the sidewalk? Maybe she was abducted. But who would abduct Yamato, of all people? It wasn't like there was a high crime rate in Tokyo, and no serial kidnappers had been reported. So where could Yamato have gone?

000

When Yamato awoke several hours later, she was relieved to find that she wasn't still bound to the chair she'd awoken in earlier. She was horrified, however, to discover that she was strapped to an ice cold table. The straps holding her down reminded her of the straps to the table they used for lethal injections. She looked around, her head being the only thing she could move beyond her fingers and toes. Various medical equipment was littered around the room, with wires and cables connecting to her. She found a needle injected into the crook of her right arm, and little pads were place on her arms, legs, and where her heart was. She was a little disturbed to see that her shirt was unbuttoned all the way and only her bra remained to cover her chest. Thankfully, however, her skirt was still on and appeared untouched. Her shoes were missing and she could feel more little pads pressed onto her heels and the balls of her feet. Some kind of helmet was placed on her head, with wires running from it to a machine. She flexed her fingers, trying to turn her wrist and loosen the restraints. The restraints were tight, however. She arched up off the table, trying to break the binds, and fell back down; giving up after a few tries. The doors opposite her slid open. Craning her neck a little, Yamato saw someone's shadow stalk over towards her. From the height, she guessed the shadow belonged to Daichi, the sacrifice. The man stopped and leaned down to peer over her. Daichi smirked.

"So you're awake." He spoke. "Welcome to the labs, little Zero."

"I'm not a Zero anymore!" Yamato shouted, making him take a step back. "Get it through your head! And button my shirt back up. Hentai!"

Daichi rolled his eyes. "I don't want to have to sedate you." He said, turning to the little metal table that seemed to have some sort of instrument on it. He turned around, revealing a needle in his hand.

"W-What is that?" Yamato asked.

What were these thick-headed creeps planning on injecting her with?

"I believe I just said that this is a sedative." Daichi said. "One I hope to not use." He pulled another table over and set the syringe on it. "Just a reminder." He turned back to the other table.

Yamato struggled against the restraints again. What was he planning on doing to her? Part of her didn't want to know, and all of her wanted to get home to Koya. There was no way she'd ever walk home alone again. She'd pay for a bus ride every time if she really had to.

"You won't get away with whatever you're planning!" Yamato warned. "People must be looking for me by now! You'll see-"

"What people?" Daichi chuckled. "You have no family, and what little family you _do_ have living still thinks that you're deceased. Who is going to be looking for you?"

"My former fighter!" Yamato said. "We're best friends. She wouldn't let me go missing without trying to save me! And my friends from school!"

"What friends?" Daichi grunted. "You don't have any."

She gaped. "I do so!" Yamato struggled again. "How do you know?!"

"Oh, we've been keeping our eyes on you, little Zero." Daichi chuckled at her. "Don't think you're untouchable, just because you claim you are no longer a Zero."

"I'm not!" Yamato struggled.

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Azayka!" He called for his fighter. "Get in here!"

The door opened and footsteps approached. When he got close enough, she could see that Azayka looked like he'd just woken up.

"Hai?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Are those restraints as tight as they can go? She's fighting them."

"Binds, tighten. Restrain the enemy so that no movement is possible." Azayka said, pointing his hand towards Yamato.

She felt the binds tighten a bit and cried out, the straps digging into her arms and legs.

"Tight as possible, Daichi."

"They weren't before, though, if you could tighten them more with a spell. Correct?"

"Hai, Daichi."

"And what did I tell you?" Daichi's eyes were dark, his face emotionless otherwise.

Azayka stuttered. "T-to make it as tight as p-possible…Daichi…"

"And did you?"

"N-no, Daichi." Azayka said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean too…"

Yamato watched as Daichi pulled back and flung his hand against his fighter's face. She closed her eyes, cringing as the sound of flesh hitting flesh rang throughout the room.

"Do not disappoint me again. You got it?"

"Hai, Master." Azayka answered, bowing.

"Good." Daichi turned back to the lab table. He picked up an instrument and turned back to Yamato. "Now let's begin. And don't disappoint me."

"Hai, Daichi." Azayka agreed.

Daichi gave Yamato a wicked grin as he showed her that he held a small taser. "Careful, love. This might sting."

Yamato opened her mouth to snap back, but she felt the taser pressed into her side and cried out. Shocks wracked through her body, making her convulse for a few moments.

_Koya…where are you?_


End file.
